Main

 
Perils
The Perils of Pollination
You would think that there is no better life in the insect world than that of pollinators. Let us take one of the many species of wild bees that live in this country, one of the metallic seat bees, for instance. She wakes up in the morning, basks in the sun until her muscles are warm enough to fly and heads for the nearest meadow. There, guided by scent, she finds her favorite flowers and traipses from one to another collecting sweet nectar and golden pollen. And, they call that work? Who wouldn’t want that job!
But, life is never easy. Actually the pollinator goes about saying to herself the equivalent of: “Lions and tigers and bears! Oh, my!” Dangers wait from above and from below, so she’d better look over her shoulder as well as under her feet all the time. Fortunately her big, wrap around eyes are right for that job.
Metallic green bee.
Coming from above there are hungry birds. Some of them have learned to fear the
pollinator’s sting and leave her alone; but there are some novice birds that haven’t
been exposed to that experience and may give it a try before spitting out their
unfortunate choice of food. Also some birds are very skilled and have figured out how
to eat bees without getting hurt. Robber flies, swift and skillful fliers, patrol the area
ready to pounce on unsuspecting bees. Bee wolves, very well armored wasps, wrestle
bees and take them to their babies for food.
Bee-wolf. A wasp with heavy armor that protects it from stings.
Robber fly devouring a bee. It relies on speed and excellent eyesight.
In addition to the perils above there are dangers waiting among the flowers, very well hidden by their dress that imitates the colors of the petals. And they are legion: ambush bugs, crab spiders, assassin bugs, most have a sharp, dagger like piece of equipment to impale their prey with. They also have a powerful poison that paralyzes the bee before it even realizes what happened.
If you walk through a meadow admiring the flowers and the busy bees and butterflies flitting around, you will occasionally see one very still and in an odd position. When you examine it closely, the tragedy becomes obvious; the well hidden killer is busy sucking the juices of its unfortunate victim.
Assassin bug, well camouflaged and with a sharp beak to inject its venom.
Crab spiders are also very good at ambush.
A crab spider caught a bee.
Ambush bug, it hides among flowers and has a powerful poison.
Ambush bug eating a bee larger than itself.
If that wasn’t enough, pollinators have to face dangers to their babies. Bee flies (not a
bee but a hairy fly that looks like a bee) hang around flowers or the ground where
some kinds of bees nest and lay their eggs nearby so that they will feed on the pollen
and the babies themselves. Even some relatives of bees do this: cuckoo bees and
cuckoo bumble bees and cuckoo wasps also lay their eggs in the nests of pollinators,
saving themselves the trouble of gathering pollen to feed their brood.
It is a miracle that bees manage to raise another generation ready to pollinate the
flowers that will bloom the next year.
Two kinds of beeflies. They lay their eggs near bee nests.
Nomada, a kind of cuckoo bee.
Another kind of cuckoo bee, this one lays its eggs in the nests of leaf-cutting bees.

Interesting facts:




Flower strategies:
© Beatriz Moisset. 2007
Photography by Beatriz Moisset.
Most pictures were taken in Montgomery County and Bucks County, PA in 2002 to 2005

 

page created with Easy Designer